Female millennials important for growth of financial services

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The report, Female millennials in financial services: strategies for a new era of talent, states that financial services firms that do not possess the attributes these discerning women (born between 1980 and 1995) seek from prospective employers, or, offer a clear path of career progression, will struggle to tap into this pool of talent and retain it and risk losing out to competitors.

PwC's survey of over 8,000 female millennials across 12 industries, of which 596 are working in financial services (banking and capital markets, insurance and asset management), uncovered the perceptions, aspiration and characteristics of women in the sector, to help businesses to define and refine strategies for recruitment, retention and career development.

"Worldwide diversity has become an imperative for organisations," Nana Madikane, PwC Diversity & Inclusion leader for South Africa, says. "Diversity and inclusiveness are now competitive imperatives within an evolving financial services marketplace; investors want it, boards want it and clients demand it."

New perspectives

The report underlines that the increased presence of women in financial services can improve the ability to build relationships and engender trust, giving firms an edge. Women can also bring new perspectives to strategy and leadership - research of over 90,000 companies in 35 countries, shows a clear link between the level of female board representation and market performance. This is most marked where women have a strong presence across all levels of leadership.

The survey shows 60% of female millennials in the financial services sector see opportunities for career progression as the most important attribute in an employer. A lack of them is also the number one reason why female millennials left their last job, with 34% citing it among the top three reasons. It is of concern to note that barely a third (35%) feel they can rise to senior levels within their current organisation, half the proportion of men working within the sector.

More than four-fifths of female millennials in financial services (87%) say an employer's policy on diversity, equality and inclusiveness is important when choosing whether to work for them. Yet, 61% of female millennials in financial services say their employer isn't doing enough to encourage diversity (in insurance this is an even higher 64%), and 73% believe financial services firms talk about diversity, but opportunities are not equal for all (80% in insurance).

Flexible arrangements

Thirty percent of female millennials in financial services cite flexible working arrangements as an attraction and almost all see work-life balance as important. However, more than half (53%) believe taking advantage of flexibility and work-life balance programmes would have negative consequences for their careers.

More than two-thirds of female millennials in the financial services sector (68%) would like to work outside their home country, and 55% believe they need to gain international experience to further their career. However, 22% feel women are given fewer opportunities to undertake international assignments than men, rising to 30% in insurance.

Approximately 13% of women globally (15% in South Africa) won't work in the insurance sector because of its image. It appears as though this sector has a number of issues to overcome. Female millennials in financial services believe insurers are doing less to promote equality and more feel promotion is biased towards men in insurance than other financial services sectors.